This week's new heavy metal releases include lots of prog, lots of riffs, what could be the actual soundtrack to hell, and more!
ALSO! Today, Bandcamp is doing one of their days of giving 100% of what you pay directly to the labels and artists as Covid-19 Pandemic relief. So if you can get stuff from Bandcamp, please do. Or can also check out select new releases here via Gimme Metal. Now, to the metals…
Enslaved – Heimdal
Genre: Progressive black metal
Origin: Haugesund, Norway
Label: Nuclear Blast
Buy now on Bandcamp or via Gimme Metal
I am constantly impressed with this band's to perfectly walk the tightrope of familiar and fresh. This sounds like the last, let's say, fifteen years of the band while sounding unlike anything they've done before. Another epic and dark record.
Entheos – Time Will Take Us All
Genre: Progressive death metal/deathcore
Origin: Santa Cruz, California
Label: Metal Blade
Buy now on Bandcamp
Now, how about some prog with some real heft to it? Navene, Chaney, and Evan are bringing the heavy complexity once again. Always a delight to hear this much bass popping/slapping/plucking on a metal record.
Full Of Hell & Primitive Man – Suffocating Hallucination
Genre: Grindcore/sludge
Origin: Ocean City, Maryland/Denver, Colorado
Label: Closed Casket Activities
Buy now on Bandcamp or via Gimme Metal
The heaviest band on the planet has joined forces with one of the busiest. This collaboration winds up in an apocalyptic-level of darkness. Each of these bands already bring that, but together? Good golly. Max has a full review here.
.gif from god – Digital Red
Genre: Grindcore/metalcore
Origin: Richmond, Virginia
Label: Prosthetic Records
Buy now on Bandcamp
In keeping in the theme of darkness and chaos, I give you the latest EP from .gif from god. These six tracks cover a lot of ground and it's rarely fun ground. It also opens with a track titled with a Simpsons reference, so that got my attention.
Haken – Fauna
Genre: Progressive metal/rock
Origin: London, England
Label: InsideOut
Buy now via Gimme Metal
With OG keyboard player Pete Jones back in the band, Haken are getting weird and animalistic. There are references to animals throughout, and you can even ear some from field recordings of some that Jones made. While they are including some R&B influences and ambient soundscapes, fans of classic prog should give "Elephants Never Forget" a shot. It sounds like a manic King Crimson/Dream Theater mashup. Chad's review is here.
Sandrider – Enveletration
Genre: Grunge/stoner
Origin: Seattle, Washington
Label: Satanik Royalty Records
Buy now on Bandcamp or via Gimme Metal
You know I love a band that's a pain to nail down, so I'm digging this one from Sandrider quite a bit. This has a Torche melodic stoner rock to it and lots of noise rock mixed in. Then there are just so many RIFFS.
Temptress – See
Genre: Heavy metal
Origin: Dallas, Texas
Label: Metal Assault
Buy now on from Tempress
More riffs? Temptress got you. This sounds like if Helms Alee slowed things down even more and got really into 70's hard rock. A very cool debut.
Witch Ripper – The Flight After The Fall
Genre: Sludge metal
Origin: Seattle, Washington
Label: Magnetic Eye Records
Buy now on Bandcamp or via Gimme Metal
Magnetic Eye are a label that I have learned I can trust. They specialize in smoky jams in one fashion or another, so you can usual guess what you're getting into, but god dammit they are usually great. The Flight After The Fall is a record of artfully written sludgy doom that's exactly what I'd expect from Magnetic Eye. Not mad about it at all either. This is like old Baroness mixed with The Sword and it…well, it rips.
Also dropping today…
- Acres – Burning Throne (A Wolf At Your Door Records) – Post-hardcore
- Atlas : Empire – Everything Is Temporary (Wormholedeath) – Emo/math rock
- Baltavar – Dark Science (Wormholedeath) – Thrash
- Beneath My Feet – In Parts, Together (Noble Demon) – Metalcore
- Carma – Ossadas (Monumental Rex) – Black metal/funeral doom
- Carrion – Morbid Nailgun Necropsy (Wormholedeath) – Death metal
- Colpocleisis – Elegant Degradation (Reality Fade Records) – Slam/brutal death metal
- Cromlech – Ascent Of Kings (Hessian Firm) – Heavy metal/doom
- John DeMena – Dreams and Lies (ADA) – Rock
- Disminded – The Vision (Black Sunset/MDD Records) – Death metal/thrash
- Earth Groans – Tongue Tied EP (Solid State) – Metalcore
- Fake Names – Expendables (Epitaph) – Post-hardcore
- Fury Of Five – Half Past Revenge (Upstate Records) – Hardcore
- Kardinal Sin – S.A.L.I.G.I.A. (Massacre Records) – Heavy/power metal
- Kold – Intet Mere Er (Vendetta Records) – Black metal
- Krullur – Dead Live! (Horror Pain Gore Death Productions) – Grindcore/thrash
- Lunar – The Illusionist (Saibot Reign Records) – Progressive metal
- Majesties – Vast Reaches Unclaimed (20 Buck Spin) – Melodic death metal
- Necropanther – Betrayal (Self-released) – Melodic death metal/thrash
- Nemesis Sopor – Firmament (Self-released) – Atmospheric black metal
- Nomad – The Mountain (Self-released) – Groove metal
- Nuclear Holocaust – Sailing Seas Of Nuclear Waste (Selfmadegod Records) – Death metal/grindcore
- Object Of Affection – Field Of Appearances (Profound Lore) – Alternative rock/post-punk
- Ocean Of Grief – Pale Existence (Personal Records) – Melodic death metal/doom
- Plague Bearer – Summoning Apocalyptic Devastation (Nameless Grave Records) – Death/black metal
- Redlight King – In Our Blood (AFM) – Rock
- Sortilège – Apocalypso (Season Of MIst) – heavy metal
- Stargazer – Life Will Never Be The Same (Mighty) – Melodic rock/heavy metal
- Stoned Jesus – Father Light (Season Of Mist) – Stoner/doom
- Terveet Kädet – Kaikki kaikkia vastaan (Svart) – Hardcore/thrash
- Tragedy – I Am Woman (Napalm) – Disco metal
- Trench Dogs – Stockholmiana (Sound Pollution) – Hard rock
- Villagers Of Ioannina City – Through Space And Time (Alive In Athens 2020) (Napalm) – Psychedelic/stoner
- Viscera – Carcinogenesis (Unique Leader Records) – Deathcore
- Witchthroat Serpent – Trove Of Oddities At The Devil's Driveway (Heavy Psych Sounds) – Stoner/doom
- Zulu – A New Tomorrow (Flatspot Records) – Hardcore/powerviolence
- 71TonMan – Of End Time (Transcending Obscurity) – Sludge/doom
